Early evidences of niche shifts in estuarine fishes following one of the world's largest mining dam disasters

The Fundão dam collapse occurred on November 2015 in Mariana city (Brazil), provoking a series of ecological impacts over the Doce river basin and its nearshore environment. However many impacts over fishery target fauna (fish and shrimp) are still unknown or underestimated due to the lack of baseli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2020-05, Vol.154, p.111073-111073, Article 111073
Main Authors: Andrades, Ryan, Guabiroba, Helder C., Hora, Maik S.C., Martins, Rebeka F., Rodrigues, Vitor L.A., Vilar, Ciro C., Giarrizzo, Tommaso, Joyeux, Jean-Christophe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Baseline studies
Brackishwater environment
Brackishwater fishes
Dams
Depletion
Disasters
Energy transfer
Environmental impact
Estuaries
Estuarine fisheries
Estuary
Fish
Fisheries
Food chains
Food webs
Habitat selection
Habitat utilization
Marine crustaceans
Mine spill
Niches
Resources
River basins
River pollution
Stable isotopes
Sustainability
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Summary:The Fundão dam collapse occurred on November 2015 in Mariana city (Brazil), provoking a series of ecological impacts over the Doce river basin and its nearshore environment. However many impacts over fishery target fauna (fish and shrimp) are still unknown or underestimated due to the lack of baseline data in the region. In the present study we assessed the isotopic niches modeled from δ13C and δ15N signatures of six estuarine fish species before and after the impact to assign potential shifts at the population- and community-level. We showed isotopic niche has altered in all studied species irrespective of its trophic group and habitat use. Niche community metrics indicated a depletion of trophic diversity and basal resources of the whole community after the impact. Food web changes as we reported here can impair the energy transfer through the food chain and put at risk the sustainability of small fisheries that rely upon local resources. •The Fundão dam collapse in Brazil is known as the worst environmental disaster involving mine ore tailings in the world•The passage of the contaminated mud through the Doce river estuarine environment altered the niche of fish species•Bayesian models indicated that fish species showed low or no niche overlap when comparing before and after impact•Community-wide measures indicated depletion of trophic diversity and basal resources of the food chain
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111073